Wright v Hancock II as struggle extends to Hope Downs

Hancock Prospecting Ltd, the closely held company of billionaire
Gina Rinehart
, is being sued by the wealthy Wright family for half ownership of more iron ore assets in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Wright Prospecting, founded by Peter Wright, who with Ms Rinehart’s father
Lang Hancock
discovered iron ore deposits in Western Australia, said Hancock Prospecting had been making commercial decisions on the properties without Wright Prospecting’s involvement.

“Wright Prospecting is now trying to recover its interest in those tenements," Wright Prospecting said in a statement to Bloomberg, referring to part of the Hope Downs property. Wright Prospecting is seeking a 50 per cent stake in the Hope Downs 4, 5 and 6 tenements, says the writ filed on September 24 in the Supreme Court of Western Australia and obtained by Bloomberg on Wednesday.

Hancock Prospecting and Rio Tinto Group operate joint ventures at some of the Hope Downs assets. Rio approved spending of $US1.6 billion on the Hope Downs 4 project in October 2010. The London-based company is expanding its iron ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region to 353 million tonnes a year by the first half of 2015 from current capacity of 230 million tonnes, it said in August.

Mark Bickerton, a spokesman at Hancock Prospecting, did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

The dispute over Hope Downs between the heirs of pioneers Hancock and Wright, both dead, continues an ongoing battle over assets. The two families have an 11-year-old dispute over the Rhodes Ridge property, with a judge having awarded Ms Rinehart’s 25 per cent stake in it to Wright Prospecting. Ms Rinehart appealed and a decision is pending.

Wright’s children, Angela Bennett and Michael Wright, were listed the 14th wealthiest people in Australia last year on BRW’s Rich 200 list. Michael Wright died in April. Ms Rinehart is the 35th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $US18.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Hancock and Wright partnership owned the tenements, now known as Hope Downs 4, 5 and 6 in the 1970s, Wright Prospecting said. The tenements were re-awarded in 1989 by the Western Australian government and held by Hancock Prospecting on the partnership’s behalf, according to Wright Prospecting.